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ctfchallenge | all galleries >> Challenge 138 - Grain it up! >> Challenge 138 - Eligible > Urban Umbrella
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23-JUL-2007 tvsometime

Urban Umbrella

41st & Broadway, New York City

Canon PowerShot S70
1/80s f/2.8 at 5.8mm hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time23-Jul-2007 19:07:06
MakeCanon
ModelCanon PowerShot S70
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length5.8 mm
Exposure Time1/80 sec
Aperturef/2.8
ISO Equivalent
Exposure Bias-0.33
White Balance
Metering Modecenter weighted (2)
JPEG Quality
Exposure Program
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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ctfchallenge29-Jul-2007 15:00
Since I have to scroll around to see this at full size, looking at the top 3/4 of the image without the green in the lower left makes for a more appealing image to me, but looks good like this too. I like all the leading lines to the woman and the repetition of color, blue in the umbrella and buildings and yellow in her clothing and the windows and reflections on the right. And you're probably correct about the saturation in older images as whenever a painting is "cleaned" it becomes much brighter. Excellent image Tom! :-) CJ
ctfchallenge29-Jul-2007 14:03
Thanks Carole. I agree about the green. It was more obvious before other processing and to my eye appears almost balanced by the green in the upper right, but not quite. I wonder if Seurat was more saturated before 100 years of fading. Around 30 years ago, the Monets in Boston Museum of Art were cleaned and the difference was revelatory. These guys used bright paint. -tv
ctfchallenge28-Jul-2007 17:30
I've looked at all the versions in pending but this is still my favorite PP. I immediately thought of "A Sunday on La Grande" by George Seurat when I saw this so I think you were very successful with your PP! Many dislike square crops but the only part that distracts me is the green part in the lower left which I wouldn't miss at all. This is more saturated than Seurat, but I like it for the modern interpretation. Good one Tom! CJ
ctfchallenge28-Jul-2007 12:42
Jano, I'm going to post a few variations in Pending. Hmmm. maybe I'll find something new, but a part of what you say is that there is more than one way to make art out of the same materials. I would like a challenge that starts with the same color photo that every contributor would manipulate to their own preference. I would expect numerous noteworthy entries. -tv
janewigginsphotography28-Jul-2007 00:07
For me this is too much grain for such a brightly colored image. This image is screaming b&w to me...which would make it dark, moody and more interesting. There is so much to work with here (i.e., road reflection, car and building lights, who is behind her and what does he/she want? the purse for the taking?...) which different processing could accomplish (I think). Great image... but i'm not liking the processing. (hint hint) :) jano
Brent 27-Jul-2007 18:39
Wow, the noise in these looks like a snow storm- but I find it appealing. I like this one best of the three- really does have an arty flair to it. Brave but good :-)
Rod 27-Jul-2007 08:24
Bruce's winning shot before blurring in PS looked very different on my monitor Techo, the shot looked reasonable but nothing special but after applying what looks like a heavy Gaussian blur which transformed the shot into a thing of beauty. The Gator shot is an off topic shot made on topic in PP with a complete makeover. So for me both shots are a testament to Bruce's PP skills as both picys were quite average before PP. Now where the line is drawn in PP is a debatable point as my picys look better after PP then they do straight from the camera. I know that in photographic competitions like the BBCs Photographer of the year they only allow a curves/levels adjustment & a sharpen.
ctfchallenge26-Jul-2007 19:43
Sorry to hijack the discussion but this got me wondering... Rod, don't quite understand what you mean when you said "What I'm against in photography is what Bruce did in the last challenge by creating two shots in Photoshop that looked like Photos created in the camera".
Which two shots are you speaking of? For the winning shot, Bruce posted the original and doesn't look like much PP was done to it.
-Techo
ctfchallenge26-Jul-2007 02:02
Thanks, Rod, for the link. I'm just back from viewing it; so I'll repeat ithttp://www.myownself.com/selfportraits/ because it is worth the trip. She has quite a future ahead if she doesn't do herself in (God forbid!). Amazing, expressionistic stuff reminiscent of William Blake the poet and painter who wrote "Tiger, tiger burning bright..". -tv
ctfchallenge25-Jul-2007 16:31
Very nice! My favorite of the three. With the composition and color of this one the grain works nicer with this shot. At first glance it reminded of those images which are composed of hundreds of others images in them.

-Techo
ctfchallenge25-Jul-2007 15:37
Thanks, Rod, for the followup. I think you and I are very much in line about using photoshop and what makes a "photograph" and I especially agree that art is art, each work speaking for itself on its own terms. Photorealism was dazzling in its execution and provided a window of opportunity for the few willing to exert the time and energy, but as you said lacked feeling. Obviously you don't have to be trained in art to appreciate it. Training just provides the vocabulary for analysis and for understanding what makes us react to a work of art. -tv
ctfchallenge25-Jul-2007 11:40
Most posters don't understand my viewpoint on Photoshop manipulations Tommy, they think I'm just dead set against creating anything in Photoshop. If someone with what I will call artistic drive uses photos to take into Photoshop & create their art then I'm all for that but their art doesn't tend to look like shots from a camera. They also don't seem to look like a simple Photoshop action put on a photo like water colour, paint dubs etc. There is a young English girl posting on Flickr that just seems to take self portraits with a point & shoot camera & creates images out of them in Photoshop & I really like the finished works & she is getting some recognition from the media & TV, NOT so much as a photographer as I don't think she knows too much about it but as an artist. Another persons art I liked is a girl named Asya Schween again she takes self portraits & does some magic in Photoshop & she creates her art which I also like. Here's a link it's the self portraits I'm impressed with more so than her other stuff which is still quite good .....
http://www.myownself.com/selfportraits/
What I'm against in photography is what Bruce did in the last challenge by creating two shots in Photoshop that looked like Photos created in the camera I also dislike shots that have just a Photoshop action put over them to make them look like a painting or drawing etc. I've nothing against people doing these things for their own pleasure but as this is a photography forum I criticise from that perspective, if it was a general art forum I wouldn't have an argument with whatever people posted. Of course trying to write in a few words my feelings about Photoshop is doomed to failure as there's always times where I might write a comment liking a shot created in Photoshop. So we can never say never to anything but if anyone wants to become a good photographer I think they're better off doing very little in Photoshop as it's not too hard to create something to wow the layman even from a poor shot
Rod
P.S. Because as far as I know we almost have to use Photoshop to get decent looking grain your use of Photoshop here becomes a mute point & because of being taken to an extreem seems to work really well for this challenge. As far as when does a painterly image not become a photograph, it stops becoming a photograph when it's made to look painterly in Photoshop. All photos because of the light & technique that reminds us of a painting is still a photo & looks like a photo, it just reminds one of a painting, Photoshop manipulations to make a photo look painterly seem obvious as to where the effect came from.
This sort of discussion reminds me a bit of the photo realist school of painting which at the time I thought was really clever & took more skill then slapping paint on a canvas to make a Mono Lisa. I soon realised that the photo realists had very little or no feel at all in their work & really it's feel that makes something art. I have no art training or knowledge & I just know a little about photography & think it's a shame to see photography going down the gurgler in the digital age of press a button for instant art. I've just read what I've written & it seems like a load of bollocks really. I can talk better then I can write........I fink:-)
sue anne25-Jul-2007 02:47
This is so noisy and vibrant, I like it !
Guest 25-Jul-2007 01:19
My initial reaction is too much grain, but with less grain it would just look like a picture spoiled by noise. I will have to come back to it again with the viewpoint of impressionism.
Bruce T Jones24-Jul-2007 23:11
I LIKE this one a bunch. The grain here is large and gives a sense of a pointillist painting. Very cool. -- Bruce
ctfchallenge24-Jul-2007 14:35
Thanks, Tom. That was the point - to find a way to use this "grain" thing without simply "graining up" an otherwise good photo.
Now, Rod, I'm looking forward to your further comment, whatever it is, and thanks for your trouble in advance. I'm actually surprised that you allow for the possibility of some merit in this kind of manipulation. The inspiration is obviously the art world especially Seurat and Signat, to mention a couple. So one question may be: when is a painterly image no longer a "photograph"? These three shots were pretty ordinary, even "bad" except for the colors and shapes, so I decided to see if I could bring out what I liked about them by using "grain". I think the added noise and supersaturated colors make them more visually appealing but obviously transforms them into a kind of non-photo. The overly saturated colors, although seemingly natural in painting also may appear garish here. -tv
Rod 24-Jul-2007 10:14
This is either a great work of art or a load of ole rubbish.......I will ponder on this one:-)
Guest 24-Jul-2007 04:23
Wonderful composition & the vivid colors are just fun!